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Spring is here and it’s time to give your lawn and landscape a Spring Clean Up, but exactly what is that? For a lot of homeowners, it means picking up a few sticks and mulching up the fallen leaves. There is much more to do though, to have the lawn and landscape truly cleaned up and ready for the growing season.

Time to clean up the lawn and landscape

These Lawn and Landscape maintenance items need to be done in the Spring. Mulching, pruning, aerating, fertilizing the lawn, fertilizing the shrubs and trees, lawn clean up, weeding of the beds, seeding (for some grass types, in some parts of the US), and more.

Are you planning on doing this, or part of it yourself? Some homeowners think that they can jump in and do a quick Spring Clean Up in one Saturday afternoon. Many times they quickly realize that there’s more to it than meets the eye to do the tasks correctly. Our office will get calls from people every year that start projects then decide that it’s too much work for them to do themselves. That’s OK, that’s why we’re here. Let’s look at what is needed to do a real Spring Clean Up, and what’s most important.

Cleaning up fallen limbs, twigs, and leaves

The debris that has fallen over the Winter really needs to be picked up before Spring arrives, but if you haven’t already done it, this is the number 1 job that needs doing first. The leaves that fall and lay on the lawn will add to the acidity of the soil and in some cases smother out some of the cool season grasses. Heavily shaded lawns will often have moss growing on the surface of the lawn due to the high acid content, heavy shade, leaf drop and lack of moisture in the Summer due to the tree roots sucking all the moisture out.

Clean up all of the debris and dispose, then take a look at the lawn. Do you have bare spots? Do you have any sunken spots or ruts in the lawn that could use filling in with soil? Do you have a mole problem? Winter and Spring is a very active time for moles in the Southeastern part of the US, now would be a good time to do some mole control if so.

If you have any of the problems listed above, now is the time to get them addressed, before the season kicks off and you forget to do it or run out of time. Also, some of these problems cannot be corrected in the Summer, so Spring is the best time to do them.

Aerate and Overseed The Lawn

While Fall is the best time to seed cool season grasses, in some parts of the US you can get a fair stand of grass in Spring by doing a simple aerate and overseeding. If you have some low spots that need filling in with soil, do that now and just sprinkle a little seed over those spots.

If you have cool season grasses (fescue, ryegrass, bluegrass) you can do these seeding projects in the Spring, if you have warm season grasses (Bermuda, zoysia, bahiagrass) you need to wait until the end of April or first of May to do it. The temps need to be averaging 85 degrees or so consistently to get germination of warm season grasses. Cool season grasses only need 55 to 60 degrees, and moisture to germinate. (remember, it’s called “cool season” grass)

Lime Applications

If you have noticed any moss growing on the lawn, that’s a sign that you need lime. Actually, it’s a sign that your soil is acidic. And lime is a solution to that problem. If you are aerating, applying lime afterwards is a great time to do it, this lets the lime fall down into the holes and get into the root zone of the grass. It takes 6 months for agricultural lime, (powdered lime) to get busy changing the soil ph, so don’t be expecting immediate results.

Pelletized lime or dolomitic lime goes to work much faster and is easier to spread. It’s much like the consistency of fertilizer so it spreads from a fertilizer spreader much easier. Ag. or powdered lime is hard to spread from a push spreader, and will sometimes tear them up. We much prefer the pelletized lime.

Fertilizing and Weed Control for Lawn and Landscape

Spring is a great time to put down weed control for the lawn and landscape. If you put it down early enough, you can catch many of the pesky annual grassy weeds like crabgrass, goosegrass, barnyard grass and others that trash up the look of the lawn later in the year. They will also cause a ton of labor to have to be done in weeding the landscape beds if you don’t control them now. You can use a granual pre-emergent crabgrass preventer on the lawn, and a liquid bed weed preventer in the landscape beds. We prefer the liquid weed preventer for beds because it’s easy to mix up in a hand sprayer and spray the mulch, gravel or ground cover to make the applications.

Pruning of Shrubs and Landscape Trees

Most homeowners do not properly prune their landscape shrubs and trees. Typically, we get calls several times per year from people that are crying for HELP with their shrubs and trees that have become overgrown. If you only prune the tips of the longest limbs off of all the shrubs and trees, you will gradually let them get larger and larger each year until all of a sudden you notice that they are covering your windows and even growing above the eves. Pruning your shrubs twice a year, and cutting them back enough to remove all of the previous growth you will keep them in a proper size. The two best times to prune are in the Fall, after the growing has stopped, and during your Spring clean up.

Proper Shrub Pruning

Shrubs growing gradually are similar to watching your kids growing, you know it’s happening, but all of a sudden you take notice of how much they have grown. If you let the shrubs get too large, then all there is left to do is cut them back drastically down to a small version of what they were, and let them grow back out, if they will.

Cutting shrubs back drastically, where you are cutting them back to only a couple of feet tall should only be done in the Fall, Winter or Spring. Giving them a cutback in the Summer will often kill them.

If you don’t know how to properly prune the shrubs and trees, you may be best off to hire a professional Landscaper to do it that knows the different plant types and how each should be prune. Not all plants get cut back the same way, at the saem time of the year. Improper pruning can either kill, disfigure or ruin some of the nicer ornamental shrubs

Mulching of Beds

During the Spring Clean Up, iff your beds have hardwood or pine nuggets mulch, now is a great time to touch that up or add a fresh coating of mulch. Weed the beds, prune the shrubs, and then mulch the beds. This order of doing these tasks will eliminate your having to clean up the fresh mulch if you do them in the wrong order.

If you have gravel for mulch, take a look for thin or bare areas where some of it may have washed out, gotten knocked out by a pet, or where the bed may have settled. Now is the time to do this too. It’s much less of a job to do it now in the cool weather than to wait until Summer and do it in the heat.

Get out there and get these Spring Clean Up chores done before it gets hot, and when you can help your grass get a good start for the season. Waiting will only delay the Spring green up of your lawn. Have a great Spring!

Are you trying to think of something great for the gardener/lawn and landscape fanatic in your life? It’s an easy bet that getting them something to help them do the hobby they love will be loved as well. So, what to get? We have scoured the Lawn and Garden sections of Amazon, and these are some of the must hmust-have, best sellers for someone that loves gardening, lawn care, landscaping, and outdoor living in general. Take a look, for more information on each item, just click on the picture.

Help them be Patriotic, with a new flag and pole mount. American Flag 3×5 ft. Tough-Tex the Strongest, Longest Lasting Flag by Annin Flagmakers, 100% Made in USA with Sewn Stripes, Embroidered Stars and Brass Grommets.

A set of “retro” looking patio lights. Spring and Summer will be back before you know it, be ready to enjoy your lawn and patio with some cool looking lights.Hyperikon Weatherproof String Lights with 15 Dropped Sockets, 2W LED S14 Bulbs included, 48ft, Linkable – Durable Decoration for Party, Event, Patio, Backyard, Garden, Café, Holiday

Everybody needs work gloves, here is a new kind that are comfortable and bright, so you don’t lose them. Bamboo Gardening & Work Gloves (2 Pairs) Ultra-Premium Quality for Men & Women. Breathable to Keep Hands Dry & Textured Grip to Reduce Slipping by Kamojo

Zeka got you worried? Get your own mosquito fogger. Powered by a propane bottle, these will fog your entire lawn in minutes. We have used them for years around our greenhouses and garden center. Burgess 1443 Propane Insect Fogger for Fast and Effective Mosquito Control in Your Yard

Need a place to hide all of those lawn and garden tools out of sight? Beautiful Most Popular Top Seller Large Capacity 99-Gallon Weather Water Proof Indoor Outdoor Deck Pool Patio Laundry Linen Lightweight Portable Patio Storage Basket Bench Box Container Mocha Brown

A solar powered, (no electricity needed, put it anywhere) LED, motion sensored flood light. Extremely handy to put where it’s dark and you need light at night walking to the house or the garage.

These are just 12 items that are extremely useful and top sellers for gardeners, landscapers and lawn care enthusiasts. Do you know of an extremely handy tool or lawn and landscape item? Post it below in the comments, we will pass it on.

OH, I almost forgot, any lawn care enthusiast can use our book Establish a 1st Class Lawn Like a Pro, download it free from 11/24/2016 through 11/29/2016

Flowers from bulbs can make a very beautiful bed, or can be a royal pain in the A**! Things have to be just right or the mountain of bulbs that you chose from a pile of catalogs, and finally ordered in the middle of Summer, will wind up being a waste of time and money.

Daffodils blooming in a mass planting landscape bed.

Often, 100’s of bulbs are planted in a bed, then you wait patiently for next Spring to see your bounty, and…..nothing, or very little bulb activity and lots of disappointment.

Bulbs are a little different than planting fresh live Spring Bedding plants. They are planted in Fall, for Spring bloomers, or in the Summer for Fall Bloomers, or planted in Spring for Summer bloomers. Live bedding plants are bought as a growing baby flower and planted to grow through the Spring, Summer and into Fall until the first frost.

Bulbs also like a well-drained soil, rich in organic matter. So that means in soil that doesn’t stay saturated with water and isn’t mostly clay. In our area of West TN, that means we have to amend the soil with organic material, mulch, potting soil, compost, or some other organic material that has completely decomposed.

Using a “green” material, (organic material that hasn’t completely decomposed) will cause more problems for your bed than good, so don’t use piles of fresh sawdust, wood chips, or fresh mulch that isn’t already very decomposed. As these materials go through the process of decomposing, they actually use nitrogen from the soil for their own use, and will create heat in the process. This is where the term “it’s too hot” comes from, when referring to mulching materials.

Fresh compost from a home composter

Use only bagged goods that have already reached decomposition, or compost that has reached complete decomposition. Till the soil in these beds that bulbs will be planted in, using shovels or power equipment, if you have enough room. Till the soil first, then pour the amendments on the soil, till again to mix into the soil. Then plant.

Some common questions, and the answers to them are the following, from three bulb wholesale operations. If you need to know how to grow something, go to the source, someone who has been doing it for years. These three account for a major portion of the annual bulb sales in the US each year.

How can I keep daffodils blooming as perennials for a lot of years?

Plant them in full sun in well drained soil.

Before planting, add compost to the soil and top dress with more compost each fall. The addition of organic matter keeps the soil healthy and enables the bulbs to absorb the nutrients they need in addition to the nutrients acquired through photosynthesis.

Wait to cut the leaves when they begin to turn yellow when the photosynthesis is finished, which usually happens about 8 to 12 weeks after they finish blooming.

Keep artificial irrigation away from the area during the bulb’s summer dormancy. Hot weather makes the soil warm; adding water to warm soil around dormant bulbs can cause some to rot.

I have a garden that I want to continue blooming during the growing season, from spring through fall. How can I accomplish this?

Add long blooming annuals “under the arms” of the perennials in early summer.

Portulaca, marigolds, petunias – full sun

Geranium, Osteospermum – part shade

Begonia, caladium, coleus – shade

Fall Bulb Planting Schedule

Layering the bulbs, planting perennial companions in the same bed and adding long-blooming annuals for the summer will ensure a colorful garden for most of the growing season.

What are some flower bulbs for my spring garden. I haven’t worked with flower bulbs before and I don’t know where to start. What should I do?

We’d suggest that you map out the garden beds, and determine the color palette and general ambiance you would like for the garden: Is it more formal or informal? We usually recommend planting 80 percent of the garden with perennial flower bulbs and 20 percent with tulips and hyacinths, which will need to be planted each fall. Tulips and hyacinths have the broadest rainbow of colors available, and by replanting them every fall, you can keep the garden’s look fresh and exciting by changing their colors.

The primary perennial flower bulbs to include are narcissi, allium, fritillaria, lilies and herbaceous peonies, all of which may be planted either in clusters for a more orderly look or in drifts for a more natural look. Finally, finesse the garden with plantings of smaller bulbs like Muscari, Scilla, Chionodoxa and Anemone blanda. Tip: To help keep clients really happy, plant a cutting garden with varieties for the future and bring them spring preview bouquets before placing their fall bulb orders.

I want flower bulbs in our woods, and want them to look like they’ve always been there. I’ve only ever planted tulips before and we have major deer issues. Are there any other bulbs that I can use?

There is a whole range of deer and rodent-resistant naturalizing flower bulbs that can be planted in drifts to sparkle in woodlands from early to late spring. In early spring, Eranthis hyemalis, the winter aconite, adorns forest floors with 4-inch-tall, bright yellow flowers, while Galanthus, the snowdrop, charms us with 6-inch-tall milky-white flowers. One of the most prolifically planted woodland dwellers is the Narcissus, usually planted in loose groups with no apparent design. Hyacinthoides non-scripta, the English bluebell, yields breathtaking seas of 18-inchtall, shimmering violet-blue flowers. Scilla, Erythronium pagoda, Geranium tuberosum and Ornithogalum nutans Silver Bells are also lovely planted in seemingly haphazard drifts. Camassia, a northwest U.S. native, is perfect in irregular drifts in the dappled sunlight of the edge of woods. In just a few years, any of these flower bulbs will appear as if they are age-old woodland inhabitants.

How deep should bulbs be planted?

Also, be sure to plant your bulbs at the proper depth. Some are deep planted, while others are to be barely covered with soil, the difference can be having a bare bed or having one that is covered with beauty.

We have a house still under construction. There is only fill where the gardens are going to be. We don’t have the go-ahead on foundation plantings, but want something in bloom next spring. What can we do?

This first phase should focus on laying out only the bare minimum, mandatory beds around the foundation of the front of the house. The soil must be amended so that these beds have good neutral pH garden soil, close to a sandy loam, with reliable drainage. Determine the square footage and the color palette pleasing to the homeowners. Select earlier blooming tulip bulbs and hyacinth bulbs that will create a prominent, yet economical, display, but that can be treated as annuals. You’ll need about five bulbs per square foot for a somewhat dense planting. When the flowers start to die back in the spring, they can be removed, bulb and all, so that work may proceed with any hardscape, foundation plantings and other beds.

We have serious animal issues — both deer and rodents. What are my options?

A bulb eating squirrel

Deer and rodents can wreak havoc on bulbs, as they can on any other type of ornamental plant. The strategies for dealing with these uninvited guests:

Plant bulbs that animals can’t or prefer not to eat. This is the easiest and most affordable option. It also means telling your client that she can’t have tulips or crocuses. So what can she have? Daffodils, first and foremost. All daffodils are toxic to mammals and will not be eaten. The same applies to other members of the amaryllis family: snowdrops (Galanthus) and snowflakes (Leucojum). Beyond that, there is a small group of bulbs that deer and rodents may sample but generally avoid: crown imperials (Fritillaria imperialis), glory of the snow (Chionodoxa) and winter aconite (Eranthis), among them. Deer and rodents don’t necessarily have the same taste in bulbs. Deer, for example, steer clear of the ornamental onions (Allium), but rodents have been known to eat the bulbs.

Bulb beds can be rewarding, or as we said, dissappointing. Do your homework, choose the right variety, get soil amendments in the bed, plant, and be patient.

Too big of a job for you? Give us a call LawnMasters can take care of hauling the soil, amendments, bed prep, planting and let you do the waiting.

Liriope (monkey grass) is a very common landscape plant all across the US. It is generally used as an accent plant or a border plant, but many times is used in a mass planting under trees or on hillsides that are difficult to maintain.

It’s very important to choose the right variety for each purpose because different varieties have different growth habits. The picture below shows a variety of Mondo grass that the homeowner planted in a strip along the driveway and sidewalk maybe 15 years ago. Now it has grown out from the concrete 6 to 10 feet in places. They thought it would stay in a clump.

Mondo grass that has spread out of it’s original space into the lawn

This Liriope is commonly called Mondo grass,Ophiopogon japonicus. There is another variety closely related to this one that is Dwarf Mondo. Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Nanus’

These liriopes are dark green in color, no variegation and are hardy in zones 6-11.

These are best suited in locations where their crawling growth habit is not a problem. Remember that they spread by sending out an underground shoot, or rhizome, which will surface a few inches away starting a new plant and new roots.

As you can tell by these pictures, they will take over a lawn choking out the original turfgrass. This section of mondo grass is so thick that weeds will barely grow in it. If you have an area on a hill, under trees or any area where regular turf grass won’t grow, but you don’t want to have shrubs in those areas, this may be a good choice.

Mondo grass spreading over a front lawn. It used to be right against the driveway, but over the years has taken over.

The regular mondo grass will grow to a height of approximately 8″ to 10″. The dwarf variety will only reach 2″ to 3″. The two can be used in closely related areas of the landscape for a contrast in size and texture.

This type of mass planting can be an inexpensive way to cover up wide areas of a landscape to reduce maintenance and mulching expenses later as the landscape matures. Once the bed grows in full, weeds are not much of a problem. Keep the area fertilized and weed control granules applied during the grow-in period. You can find more information on weed control in the beds on our website here.

One of the most commonly used liriopes is “variegated Lilly turf” or Liriope muscari ‘Variegata’. It is a variety that will stay in it’s assigned space when planted and will not crawl. It also has a pretty purple/blue bloom that is a bonus throughout the Summer.

Variegated liriope or variegated monkey grass is one of the most commonly used border plants/accent plants in landscaping.

This variety is commonly used as a border plant, lined up along the edge of the landscape bed, often running alongside a driveway, walkway or other hardscapes. It can also be used in the middle of a landscape as an accent plant. It will not crawl but will get larger and thicker as it matures. It can be used as a mass planting however, large landscape beds look very nice when an evenly spaced planting of variegated liriope is planted over a hillside, slope or other areas that require reduced maintenance.

There are hundreds of varieties of liriope available from growers across the United States, many can be ordered online and will arrive in a box with moist paper wrapped around it. The plants will be smaller, maybe plug size up to 2 to 4 inch containers, depending on the grower. These can be purchased for anywhere from .20 cents to $1 each, again, depending on the size.

Compare that to $6 to $8 dollars a pot for a mature 1 gallon pot, you can save yourself thousands on larger landscape projects where as many as hundreds of pots, or even thousands, could be needed.

We often say that if you have more patience than money, buy small and keep them fertilized, watered, mulched and weeded, and you will have a full bed within a couple of years. If you are impatient and have the money, by all means, write the check and plant the big plant!

Black Mondo Grass

The Black Mondo Grass in the picture to left, is an interesting choice as it’s not used as often and can provide a striking contrast in color and texture for a change.

In addition to the look of the plant, as you choose what color, height and spread of the plant, also look at the rest of the horticulture information on the plants you are buying. Just because the plant is only 4″ tall right now doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way, or that it will stay in it’s planted spot.

Many times a year we receive calls from customers who have let their landscapes get out of control from lack of pruning, or just simply planting the wrong plant in the wrong location.

Average homeowners don’t have a lot of landscaping knowledge and often choose a plant based on simply what it looks like in the nursery or garden center, and not based on its horticultural specifications. We routinely cut out, pull out or otherwise remove overgrown plants that were poorly chosen. In the long run, this was wasted money.

Try to resist impulse buying while in the garden center, if something catches your eye and you would like to have it, think about where it will grow best in your landscape based on its size, growth habit, mature height and spread, color, foliage habits, sun requirements, and even water requirements.

If you’re not sure if it will work or not, you might want to go home and look at the location and consider all of the possibilities of having that plant, in that location. Choosing the wrong plant can come back to haunt you later.

For more information about lawn care and landscaping tips, check our website. For a free landscaping estimate or lawn care analysis and estimate, give our office a call at 731.642.2876 or at 888.664.LAWN

Segmental Retaining Walls (SRW’s) are concrete block retaining walls that use a complicated system of gravity, wall setback, geogrid, proper drainage, compacted base gravel foundation, and other factors to complete a structurally sound, efficient and very appealing retaining wall for commercial or residential purposes.

These walls are difficult to build, requiring lots of labor, lots of equipment, and lots of knowledge to properly build one. Trusting your property to someone who doesn’t have the knowledge, and any combination of the other things can put your investment and property at risk. These walls are quite expensive to build, and if one of them comes down due to improper construction, it could cost you twice as much to have it cleaned up and rebuilt.

This pile of small landscaping blocks is all that’s left of an 8′ tall retaining wall a contractor “thought” he was going to build with them. Needless to say, the wall didn’t survive, it never even made it to completion before it fell

SRW’s are on the average more expensive than a poured concrete wall, that has not been faced with brick or stone but have a much better appearance, having several textures and colors available.

Most of the time, they are built with no concrete foundation, using a compacted base gravel instead, this allows the foundation and the block to move slightly with any frost heaves or movement from hydraulic pressure from ground water. Most poured retaining walls will crack at some point, SRW’s will not crack since they are not mortared together.

Retaining walls can make use of previously unusable land you may have on your property. They can take a steep slope and turn it into several level areas that can then be used for landscape beds, turfgrass, or flower beds. They will add value to your property, in some cases partially or completely paying for themselves in increased property value.

These structural walls can be built at the shore level on most lake properties as a sea wall alleviating erosion and gaining usable land behind the wall once it is backfilled. They can be built virtually unlimited in height, with the right conditions and materials.

This wall we built on Kentucky Lake to level this property, gain usable land and allow the summer water level to splash against the wall.

LawnMasters Lawn and Landscape has been building these walls for 26 years, we have the experience, knowledge and equipment to build any type of SRW on your property, commercial or residential.

If you need an estimate or a second opinion on how to construct a wall on your property or what type of wall to construct, we are happy to assist. Just contact us and we will take a look and give you a free lawn and landscape analysis for your needs.

Lots of homeowners and quite a few contractors think that any block that you can stack up that has a lip or another method of creating “set back” can be used to easily build a wall. After all, all you do is stack them up, right? Nope….. This is where the situation starts going bad.

Having the knowledge of which block should be used, what type of base foundation, how many feet of geogrid for stablilization, and how many layers of it, how much drainage gravel, etc. all combine to equal what it takes to be able to build a wall properly. This post is primarily a warning to property owners to ask questions of the person or Company that is giving you a retaining wall estimate or proposal.

Things to ask:

How long have you been building SRW’s

Where are some you can go look at

What type/size block would you recommend for this job

How much Geogrid will be used

Explain how you will address the drainage issues around the retaining wall

What will be done at the finish grade to address drainage on top of the wall, to prevent water from running over and down the face of the wall

Does your price include excavation and removal of spill

Will you provide a stamped engineered drawing of the project

What is your warranty for the wall

These are all items that you should ask and get an answer for, that you understand. A structural retaining wall is as important as the foundation under your house and should be given the same professional attention.

Do you have retaining wall questions or issues? Contact us at 888.664.LAWN or email us here EMAIL US

Winter is going to be here before you know it, now is the time to plan for winterizing your sprinkler system (irrigation system). Most irrigation systems will retain a small amount of water in the lateral lines, even if you have automatic drain back valves installed. And the valve boxes are all

An automatic drain back valve in an irrigation system. It helps to eliminate water from standing in the system

susceptible to freezing because they are exposed to the elements except for a thin plastic lid. If a valve freezes and breaks, it is usually an expensive repair.

Winterizing your system is usually going to require having the installer, or a qualified Landscape Professional, that has knowledge about the operation of an irrigation system, pumps that pump out of the lake for water source, and all of the different timers, valves and related systems that make up an irrigation system, to do it for you. A properly installed irrigation system is quite complex and needs the expertise of someone that has done it for years to service it for you.

LawnMasters has been installing and maintaining irrigation systems for 26 years. One of the first systems we installed was on Kentucky Lake for a nice lady who had recently lost her husband. He had started building an irrigation system, but passed away before he could complete it.

We completed the system for her in 1990, and it is still being used today.

Winterizing an irrigation system involves hooking an air compressor up to the system, utilizing a couple of different options, then charging the system with air pressure to blow the water out of the system.

An irrigation head blowing out any water in the line during winterization

Two problems can surface during this action, one is the system can be damaged if too much air pressure is applied to it. Or second, the system can still be damaged by freezing water if all of the water is not purged from the system. Again, knowledge is king when servicing a system that costs thousands to install.

Once we have the system winterized, we turn it off and put it to bed for the season, ready to be started when needed in Spring, protecting your valuable irrigation system and your investment.

When Spring comes, the system should be ready to just turn on the water, adjust your automatic timer and let it take off again.

When should you have your irrigation system winterized? It depends on what part of the US you are in, when your expected first freeze will be, and if you are doing Fall seeding.

Obviously, the farther North you are, the sooner you will have to winterize your system, an easy rule is to have it done prior to the expected date of your first freeze. If you are done using your system for the year, go ahead and schedule to have it done, or do it yourself if you are able. There is no benefit in waiting, and, if you wait until the last minute before the first expected freeze, you may not be able to get on the schedule to get it done in time.

New Sod Being Watered

If you are doing some Fall overseeding, aeration and seeding or have installed sod, you may need to wait until the last minute. Still, if you are planning on waiting right up until the last day or so before freeze is expected, go ahead and call to get on the winterizing schedule and you can still get it done.

The first freeze usually isn’t the killer freeze that damages a lot of water pipes. The first time it freezes, the ground is still above freezing and the temps usually don’t drop that far below freezing, and most components will not freeze.

But after the ground gets cold enough, and the daytime temps stop getting warm enough to keep the ground warm, a moderate freeze can do major damage to the system.

If you have the knowledge and equipment, you can winterize your irrigation system yourself. If you don’t, or you’re not quite sure how to go about it, give us a call, it’s not that expensive and can save you hundreds of dollars in repair bills come Spring time.

If you need help with winterizing your system, you can contact us a number of ways

AS Fall sets in, many homeowners are tired of dealing with all of the plants outside that need watering, the lawn that needs water, flowers, and trees that have taken so much of your time throughout the Summer. But don’t quit just yet!

Fall is supposed to bring the much-needed rain and cooler temperatures, but as the temps cool off, the rain doesn’t always come. Much of the US is under drought conditions now, many areas are in severe drought and the Fall rains have yet to come. Many plants in our area are showing signs of drought and wilting. If they don’t get any water they will suffer going into dormancy, and may not come out of it next Spring.

So if you’re in an area that allows watering, don’t give up on the watering chores just yet. Many plants are busy storing reserves to help make it through the Winter. Water is needed at the end of the growing season in order for the plants to make their reserves. Keep up the watering through Oct. or until the regular rains come. Your plants will thank you!

How much water is needed is dependent on the type of plant, the size of the plant, if it’s located in the sun or shade, and a few other factors. The basic rule of thumb is to simply keep the planter, pot, or ground moist around it. It doesn’t have to be soaking wet unless you’re just going to soak them once a week and let them dry out. That approach is fine, or you can water a few times a week, just giving enough water to bring the soil back to moist.

How you water is up to you, using a water hose and hand sprayer, a stationary water sprinkler that you have to move periodically, or my best suggestion is to have an automatic sprinkler system. They can be expensive, but so can replacing several plants each year.

For free estimates on sprinkler systems and free lawn and landscape analysis call our office or check our website for more information.

An Automatic Irrigation System watering Zoysia

Watering regularly until the plants go dormant this Fall will help them bounce out of dormancy next Spring, and might even keep some of them from dying. Some varieties of plants can be damaged possibly beyond recovery if they are left to the chances of Mother Nature.

Remember how excited you are in Spring when the temps start warming, the flowers start coming out and the grass starts greening up? Keep that thought for a couple more weeks, and remember that what you do for your plants this Fall will pay off next Spring!

Yep, we here this all the time. A person goes to the trouble and expense to call a professional Lawn and Landscape Company out to give an estimate, draw up a design, implement the design and get the property looking great. Then we get a call a month later saying that plants are dying, or the new sod is yellow.

Upon inspection we find the plants are wilted and the grass is crunchy dry from no water. And yes, we hear this “I didn’t know I had to water it”. And this is after they were told to water, and left instructions on how to properly water. Do you feed and water your baby? Do you feed and water your kitten, your puppy? How about your house plants? Your horse, cattle or any living breathing thing?

Then yes you have to water your lawn and landscape. It amazes me that some people will go to the trouble and expense to have a home Landscaped, but then be too lazy to water their investment.

We have instructions on how to water newly sodded or seeded lawns and newly installed Landscapes on our website Here Lawnmasters Website

If you don’t have the energy to drag hoses around and manually water your new investment, we can install an automatic irrigation system before the Lawn and Landscape is installed. This way it’s automatic. And there’s no excuse anymore on why you didn’t water. Call for a free estimate for a system to go with your new Lawn and Landscape 888-664-5296

Every year you see truck after truck going down the highway loaded to the hilt with ground hardwood bark mulch. It’s a yearly ritual and rite of Spring, to re mulch the Landscape Beds. But does it have to be hardwood mulch?

Lately there is a trend toward using other materials that don’t have to be re-done each year. Gravels are extremely popular, low maintenance and in the long run cost less over the lifetime of the Landscape.

Advantages of gravel mulchs

1) Less expensive over the years.
2) Doesn’t have to be refreshed each year.
3) Is available in as many colors as hardwood mulch.
4) Will stay put in rain and wind better than hardwood mulch.

Disadvantages of gravel mulchs

1) Higher initial expense than hardwood mulch
2) More labor intensive to place, it’s much heavier and harder to handle.
3) Bagged decorative gravel mulchs are much more expensive than hardwood mulch.
4) If you don’t keep in contained with edgers or some type of restraint, it will creep into the lawn and can be thrown by mowers.

So consider a decorative rock, washed rock from a gravel pit, or even creek gravel if you have a creek nearby that you are allowed to get it from. It can change up the landscape from monotonous brown mulch. You don’t have to do it all at the same time. Do part of the beds this year, then convert the rest next year. Or just go half and half. Either way, it’s a good substitute for wood mulch.

Check our more information on Lawns and Landscaping at our website www.Lawnmastersllpc.com or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lawnmasters